Special education disproportionality in the United States,Germany, Kenya,and India

Disproportionality in special education includes the underrepresentation and overrepresentation of children by gender, economic status, race, ethnicity, language, and culture. This article reviews literature on disproportionality in the United States, Germany, Kenya, and India. Societal views of disability, classism, racism, and inequitable assessment are among the factors that contribute to disproportionality. Preventative medicine, equitable access to resources, ethical and effective assessment procedures, and educational practices that are gender equitable and culturally responsive may reduce the problem of disproportionality.     

Pathways to adoption for minority ethnic children in England – reasons for entry to care

There have been concerns about the over‐representation of minority ethnic children in care in England for many years. This paper reports on the reasons why a sample of 120 minority ethnic children with adoption recommendations entered care. The study found no evidence that children were being removed unfairly or in a discriminatory way. However, there were significant differences by ethnic group in the characteristics of children and their mothers, in reasons for entry and in age at referral. These differences needed to be better understood, and interventions targeted at improving the circumstances and stresses within families that lead to abuse, neglect or relinquishment are also needed. Simply focusing on reducing the number of minority ethnic children in care will not in itself produce better outcomes for children.     

Hurdling the Artificial Fence Between Child Welfare and the Community: Engaging Community Partners to Address Disproportionality

As with many national and state social service systems, child welfare agencies have traditionally functioned in isolation. A multitude of federal and state laws and policies direct the functions and practices of child welfare systems, setting up an artificial fence around the agency that has created a culture lacking in interprofessional collaborations. However, recent reform efforts have emphasized the importance of engaging the community in discussions and decisions regarding child welfare practice. Child welfare agencies are now expected to work with community leaders, key stakeholders, affiliated service providers, and families to address issues impacting children and families. A major obstacle is determining where to begin, how to proceed, and what is needed to develop those partnerships. This article reports the efforts of one state agency in hurdling that artificial fence to address the overrepresentation of minority children in the system. Through focus group interviews with community members, child welfare staff, and legal professionals, barriers to community engagement are identified, and recommendations are provided for facilitating meaningful relationships and partnerships between child welfare agencies and the communities they serve.     

African American Families and the Role of Physical Discipline: Witnessing the Past in the Present

The use of physical discipline within African American families is examined from a historical perspective within the context of institutionalized racism and racial disproportionality in the child welfare system. African American parenting strengths are explored, demonstrating that the use of physical discipline can be purposeful, controlled, and appropriate, utilized to protect African American children and instruct them how to behave and survive within a racist society. Available literature on corporal punishment is reviewed, and implications for culturally informed child welfare practice are provided.     

The over-representation of indigenous children in the Australian child welfare system

Similar to other wealthy countries with colonised indigenous populations, Australia's indigenous children, those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, are seriously over-represented in the child welfare system. The specific dimensions of this problem warrant detailed examination. It is useful to consider factors such as rates of entry to care, length of stay and the nature of services provided in order to understand the problem more fully. This article uses child protection, out-of-home care and juvenile justice administrative data to examine the levels of disproportionality at key decision points in the child welfare system. The data show that child welfare interventions are persistently more intrusive for indigenous children, and that levels of disproportionality have not improved over time. More comprehensive child and family welfare policies are needed to address indigenous disadvantage. Despite calls by indigenous community agencies for more input to decision-making, their participation in the Australian child welfare system remains marginal.     

Moral panic versus the risk society: the implications of the changing sites of social anxiety

This paper compares moral panic with the potential political catastrophes of a risk society. The aim of the comparison is threefold: 1. to establish the position of risk society threats alongside more conventional moral panics; 2. to examine the conceptual shifts that accompany the new types of threats; and 3. to outline the changing research agenda. The paper suggests that as new sites of social anxiety have emerged around environmental, nuclear, chemical and medical threats, the questions motivating moral panic research have lost much of their utility. Conceptually, it examines how the roulette dynamics of the risk society accidents expose hidden institutional violations that redound into 'hot potatoes' that are passed among and fumbled by various actors. Changing conceptions of folk devils, claims making activities, and of a safety are also discussed.     

Strategies for improving child welfare services for families of color: First findings of a community-based initiative in Los Angeles

A disproportionate number of families served in child welfare are families of color. But relatively few strategies for helping families of color have been monitored for their impact. This article reports early findings from a Los Angeles County based public child welfare office that has continuously developed, tracked, and has now begun to assess strategies supporting preservation and reunification of families of color. Some promising trends revealed by a four year data period include the reduction of number of African-American children within the caseload, reductions in substantiated referrals and removals. The most recently developed strategy, which uses specialized four person case management teams, was evaluated through the use of a comparison group. Public agency data revealed that families served by the team, compared with families served through customary agency services, had improved outcomes, including a higher percentage of cases closed with the child remaining in the home, and greater permanency exits from foster care. Additionally the data revealed that the case management team developed to mitigate disproportionality among African-American families also improved outcomes for Hispanic/Latino families.     

Race Matters: Child Protection and the Communication Process

It is well-known that, in the United States, African-American children are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system and that disparities in the provision of services exist. The debate over contributing factors to this overrepresentation and these disparities is ongoing as researchers seek explanations and practitioners pursue solutions. This qualitative inquiry finds that within the context of the child protection system and the juvenile court process, racial dynamics emerge between respondent parents and system representatives that may affect the process and, in turn, the outcomes for the thousands of children of color in the foster care system.     

Native Hawaiian Families Systemic Disparities in Hawaii's Child Welfare System

This study examined systemic and individual factors that contribute to the disproportionality of Native Hawaiian families in the child welfare system using data from the 2004–2005 Hawaii State Child Welfare Services (N = 1267). Native Hawaiians were found to be more likely to reenter the system and less likely to be re-united with their families even when the type of abuse was less serious. This distinction was identifiable in interaction terms in multivariate analysis. The paper concludes that the child welfare system in Hawaii needs to continue to explore methods to reduce these disparities.     

The Role of Worker Support and Religious Support in African American Special Needs Adoption: The Bennett Chapel Experience

Between 1998 and 2003 members and friends of Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in rural East Texas adopted 70 African American special needs children. Data from surveys of 113 Texas and Louisiana adoptive families, including 14 Bennett Chapel families, found that the amount of anticipated worker support influenced the decision to adopt, particularly for Bennett Chapel families, and actual worker support was significantly related to positive adoption impact on the family. Comparisons of Bennett Chapel with other families highlight the uniqueness of this initiative. Findings underscore the importance of worker support for facilitating adoptions in faith and rural communities and increasing adoptions of African American children.